


unfamiliar landscapes and streets full of sunset

by my_eternalsunshine



Series: markhyuck collection <3 [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Birthday, Coming of Age, Confusing, M/M, birthday sadness, i'm sorry this is a little half-assed, kind of?, y'know that one?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:13:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26111686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/my_eternalsunshine/pseuds/my_eternalsunshine
Summary: it's donghyuck's 16th birthday and he has every reason to be happy. sadly, he's struck by a sudden wave of melancholy.but mark is staying the night and here to talk with hyuck. it's a blessing, maybe even a curse.hyuck is just happy mark is there.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Series: markhyuck collection <3 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1808497
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	unfamiliar landscapes and streets full of sunset

**Author's Note:**

> finally, i'm posting a story again! (it has been way too long.) 
> 
> this is a little half-assed since i dug this story up from june and it was even more a mess as it is now,,  
> i hope you'll still enjoy it, even if it isn't that cheerful as my other stories.

“aren’t you happy with your birthday?” 

mark asked this oblivious question to hyuck, as if he knew the answer. 

june 6th, a day he celebrated by unwrapping presents, inviting his friends and sharing ungodly amounts of cake. as much as he presented himself to be otherwise, donghyuck didn't per se dislike the concept of birthdays. 

his mother pressed big, fat birthday smooches onto his cheeks and presented him a decorated kitchen, which she most likely spend the whole night decorating, including a pile of presents surrounding his favourite red velvet cake. making all these efforts for her child, hyuck was eager to thank her, especially today. preparing snacks for his afternoon get-together and willingly offering help with cleaning the house, hyuck just smiled fondly and gently pushed her into the living room armchair. you deserve some rest, mommy, he answered her complaints fondly.   
his happiness peaked as he watched all of his friends approach his poky house at the city’s edge, listening to his best friend chenle's screams from afar. hyuck shook his head, as he had headed outside to greet all of his friends. 

it really was one of his happiest birthdays. 

but now he sat here with mark, one of his closest friends for years and crush since their first year of high school. the cliché, ‘people change when they enter high school’ sounded like complete nonsense to hyuck, something western films tried hard to reimagine but failed miserably in progress, creating an unreal, romanticized perception of youth.   
but mark, out of all his friends, goddamn mark really came back to school as a brand new person. he had grown taller, taller than chenle, renjun and him. almost towering jisung, now owning a different, selected wardrobe which made hyuck’s heart skip a beat every time he jogged into the schoolyard to greet his friends.   
it played off in front of his eyes, mirroring all those western movies hyuck despised so much. he fell quick, and hard. like being pushed off the edge of a building.

“are you silly? i am happy, very happy. everyone came. even johnny, yuta and taeyong were there, it was amazing. just…”   
hyuck closed his eyes. resting his head against the bed's edge, hyuck yet opened his half-lidded eyes to the now tangerine sunset. 

“just what?”

hyuck sighed. “i feel like i’m doing something wrong. do you know that fear of not achieving big things at a young age? or fear of missing out? 

mark sighed. the empathy in his voice was hard to miss. “yeah, kind of.” 

“i know i’m barely sixteen. super young, and still super impressionable. i have goals, i want to achieve things. i want to take as much out of life as possible, but…" hyuck turned his head to mark, whose eyes were focused on the sunset as well. 

"but you have so much time, hyuck?” mark asked. “you're just sixteen? who is rushing you?" 

hyuck sighed. “i am rushing myself. you know, i want to be something big, want to do something big, but not as an old hag. i want to do big things now, at a young age.”

"but… why?"   
mark didn't quite understand his best friend's cryptic words. "take your time, hyuckie!" 

"mark, life is too short to wait!" crying it out loud, donghyuck almost forgot the two of them weren’t alone. 

“i’m scared of being too slow.” hyuck continued quietly. “waiting for the right moment to come and still being late.” 

“so...you’re scared?” mark assumed. 

“s-scared? what the hell should scare me?” 

“youth.” mark simply answered him. “youth is short-lived, making out, like, a twentieth of your lifespan. still, everyone expects you to experience the best years of your life in these few years.” 

“yeah, because i’m scared of a conception.” scoffing, hyuck had to grin. “I may be dumb, but i’m not stupid.” 

“no, hyuckie, no.” now laying an guiding arm around his friend's shoulders, hyuck unwillingly blushed. “this conception has been driven into your head so brutally, you perceive this as your reality.” 

for a minute, hyuck stared into those dark orbs that were mark’s eyes, seeming to process their conversation. 

“the walls i’ve built in my head are stopping me from living life and pressuring me to overthink?” 

“exactly.” 

for a while, mark and donghyuck watched the sunset and the following appearance of what seemed a million stars, reversing the sun’s glow with their twinkling stars. that mark still had his arm looped around hyuck’s shoulders didn’t bother either of them. 

mark turned his head to hyuck and smiled.   
he seemed so unknowing, yet so experienced and wise, as a sixteen year old boy. mark would turn seventeen next month and noticed hyuck carried many of mark’s former traits with him. not bad nor good, just alot of specific mannerisms. it was cute to watch, but also quite scary. 

“you remind me of my past self, hyuckie.”, mark thought out loud. 

hyuck turned his head towards mark’s, smirking. “how so?” 

“you’re ditzy.” 

“for real now!” hyuck started to whine. “what do i remind you of?” 

“you’re inexperienced, of course, but also scarily smart.” mark began, now subconsciously playing around with hyuck’s long, brown locks. “also, i feel like you’re constantly in love.” 

nervously, hyuck started to shift, causing the bedsheet to ruffle even more. “w-with someone, or…not that i’d be, but-” 

“no, not in that way.” mark interrogated his mumbling. “more of, you know, in love with life, with living, like a bright sun.” 

he grinned. “why, are you in love with someone?” 

“no- i mean, well...yeah, but i’m definitely not telling you.” hyuck cursed his brain for making the words coming out of his mouth sounding like crap. “yeah.” 

“you are exposing yourself, hyuck.” mark chuckled. “bare. come on, i’ve been your best friend for how long now? you can tell me!” 

“but that’s just the point, mark.” sighing, hyuck decided there was no way around it now. “it would ruin our relationship, because i’m crushing on you.” 

“o-oh.” even the normally extroverted and witty mark was at loss of words now. “that’s surprising.” 

hyuck sighed, dropping his eyes from mark’s and blankly staring onto his feet.   
“it’s okay if you want to leave now, or if you want to- just do what you want, i don’t care about it, really.” 

“and what if i wanted to kiss you?”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so, so much for reading my story! 
> 
> i hope you enjoyed it, kudos and comments are always very appreciated! 
> 
> i hope you have a great day and i'll see you next time! 
> 
> twitter: eternalsun_sh


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